The Ground Data Systems and Services Organization is responsible for the architecture, development, deployment, and operation of Ground Data Systems (GDS) across all customer programs. We provide secure, scalable, and standardized solutions for the Commercial Civil Space line of business, serving as a centralized hub of engineering expertise that enables mission success through innovative, cost-competitive technologies and services.
This role is for a staff-level Systems Engineer to serve as the GDS Test Lead, overseeing requirements verification and validation, test campaigns, and integration for the GDS organization within the Orion program. The position supports NASA's Artemis missions—Artemis 3, 4, 5, and future missions in development.
The Test Lead will support verification and validation campaigns for big data tools and a data lake software architecture, along with several hardware integration and stand-up efforts. The role also provides secondary support for maintaining command-line, GUI-based, and web-based applications that perform spacecraft telemetry data processing and analysis. Additionally, the Test Lead serves as dedicated anomaly troubleshooting support, working in real time with on-call engineers to resolve ground system anomalies efficiently. All tasks require close collaboration with software developers, architects, and end users, as well as responsiveness to their feedback. Candidates may travel (<25% of the time) to support on-console and on-call operational activities during critical mission events, testing campaigns, and key integration efforts.
Responsibilities:
- Develop software code, unit tests, and integration tests for a full-stack data lake product supporting spacecraft test, analysis, and operations.
- Write, validate, and execute GDS test procedures, and lead test teams and campaigns for mission operations, hardware integration, and software releases.
- Automate manual processes across unit, functional, and integration testing to drive operational efficiency for the GDS team.
- Coordinate with GDS teammates and systems/subsystem engineers to define and refine interface requirements through design, test, and operations.
- Troubleshoot deployed ground system hardware, operating systems, and networks, serving as the dedicated systems integration liaison across multiple teams to drive anomaly resolution.
- Participate in requirements baselining and development, and lead verification and validation efforts across both hardware and software domains.
- Lead operational support to spacecraft teams in deployed environments—spanning internally developed and third-party ground software—including real-time dataflows, data management, querying, command-building tools, and analysis tools.
- Investigate opportunities to integrate AI into test engineering, software engineering, systems engineering, and operations workflows.
The information below reflects the standard job description for this position:
Performs technical planning, system integration, verification and validation, cost and risk, and supportability and effectiveness analyses for total systems. Analyses are performed at all levels of total system product to include: concept, design, fabrication, test, installation, operation, maintenance and disposal. Ensures the logical and systematic conversion of customer or product requirements into total systems solutions that acknowledge technical, schedule, and cost constraints. Performs functional analysis, timeline analysis, detail trade studies, requirements allocation and interface definition studies to translate customer requirements into hardware and software specifications. For positions that perform IT responsibilities, use E646, Systems Engr-IT.
